This invention relates to an electronic apparatus with an enclosure having a terminal compartment and an electronics compartment.
One reason for the presence of the terminal compartment and the electronics compartment is that a circuit housed in the electronics compartment is to be protected against deliberate or accidental contact when work is being done in the terminal compartment, i.e., when a line or a cable is being connected, for example.
To ensure that such apparatus can perform its electronic function, the apparatus is connected to an electric power supply, such as a battery; for the most part, however, the apparatus is powered from a power supply system, particularly a public system. Also, means are generally provided for transmitting signals, e.g., measurement and/or control signals, from and/or to the apparatus.
Electronic apparatus, particularly industrial measuring instruments, is also operated in locations in which there is a danger of explosion, i.e., the electronic apparatus is located not in normal air, but in a potentially explosive atmosphere. Examples of environments in which potentially explosive atmospheres are present or may arise are silos for powdery materials, particularly for flour, gas stations, aircraft refuelling points, or industrial plants, particularly chemical plants.
Therefore, electronic apparatus that is to be usable in hazardous areas are subject to special safety regulations, which are defined in standards. The main objects of those standards are to avoid an electric spark that may initiate an explosion, or to prevent a spark produced inside an enclosed space from causing an explosion outside, or to ensure that a flame that has already developed will be confined to the space in which it has developed. These objects are attainable in various ways, which are referred to in relevant Europeans standards as xe2x80x9ctypes of protectionxe2x80x9d.
According to European Standards EN 50014 and EN 50018, for example, which standards are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, explosion protection is provided if electronic apparatus is designed to meet the requirements of the type of protection xe2x80x9cexplosionproof enclosure (Ex-d)xe2x80x9d (English designation in the standard: flameproof enclosure xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d). This is commonly called xe2x80x9ctype of protection Ex-dxe2x80x9d.
Furthermore, according to European Standards EN 500014 and EN 50020, which standards are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, explosion protection is provided if electronic apparatus is designed to meet the requirements of the type of protection xe2x80x9cintrinsic safety (Ex-i)xe2x80x9d, which is commonly referred to as xe2x80x9ctype of protection Ex-ixe2x80x9d. According to this type of protection, electric currents, voltages, and powers occurring in the electronic apparatus must not exceed predetermine current, voltage, and power limit values at any time.
These three limit values are chosen so that in the event of a fault or a short circuit, the maximum amount of energy released does not suffice to produce a spark capable of causing ignition. The voltage is kept below the predetermined limit values by zener diodes, for example, the current is limited by resistors, for example, and the power is limited by a suitable combination of voltage- and current-limiting components.
In European Standard EN 50019, which standard is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, a further type of protection with the designation xe2x80x9cincreased safety (Ex-e)xe2x80x9d is defined, which is commonly called xe2x80x9ctype of protection Ex-exe2x80x9d. In electronic apparatus designed to meet the requirements of this type of protection, explosion protection is achieved by making the distances between two electric conductors having different potentials so great that sparking cannot occur across this distance. To meet these requirements, however, circuits may have to be very large in dimensions.
In the USA, Canada, Japan, and other countries, there are standards comparable to those European standards.
Electronic apparatus designed to meet the requirements of type of protection Ex-d must have an explosionproof enclosure or an explosionproof part of the enclosure. This prevents any explosion occurring inside the enclosure or a compartment thereof from penetrating to the outside or to another compartment, e.g., from the electronics compartment to the terminal compartment. In the standard, minimum values are defined for the length and width of slots or gaps etc. between compartments at which the slots or gaps etc. are flameproof.
In order to have sufficient mechanical strength, enclosures with explosionproof parts are thick-walled; hence, they are heavy and expensive. Designing electronic apparatus to meet the requirements of type of protection Ex-d thus requires an explosionproof and, thus, heavy and expensive enclosure or an enclosure with a suitably dimensioned part.
EP-A 945 714 corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/268,343, filed Mar. 16, 1999 discloses an electronic apparatus with an enclosure having an electronics compartment and a terminal compartment which
meets the requirements of type of protection Ex-d or type of protection Ex-e,
is spatially separated from the electronics compartment, which houses a circuit complying with the requirements of type of protection Ex-i, and
is electrically connected to the electronics compartment by a commercially available explosionproof bushing.
Since in this electronic apparatus, a circuit that meets the requirements of type of protection Ex-i is already present in the electronics compartment, neither sparks nor flames can originate from it, so that the bushing need not be flameproof.
If, however, circuits that do not meet the requirements of type of protection Ex-i are provided in the electronics compartment, the bushing required between terminal compartment and electronics compartment must be designed to be flameproof.
It is an object of the invention to provide an electronic apparatus in which the aforementioned explosion protection is achieved with an elegant and low-cost design.
To attain this object, the invention consists in an electronic apparatus with an enclosure
which has a terminal compartment and an electronics compartment,
said terminal compartment being separated from the electronics compartment by an internal wall
which has a longitudinal slot of depth T in which a bushing is fitted, and
which comprises:
a baseboard which extends into and is mounted in the electronics compartment, has a stop, and can be fitted with electronic components;
a lead arrangement extending into the terminal compartment and contacting the components on the baseboard; and
a plastic part which surrounds the lead arrangement, is formed integrally with the stop, and has the shape of, and thus fills, the longitudinal slot.
In a first preferred embodiment of the invention,
the enclosure is located in a hazardous area,
the electronics compartment is designed to comply with the requirements of type of protection Ex-d,
the electronics compartment houses a circuit designed to comply with the requirements of type of protection Ex-d, and
the depth T of the longitudinal slot is at least equal to the gap length specified for type of protection Ex-d as a function of gap width.
In a second preferred embodiment of the invention, the terminal compartment is designed
either to comply with the requirements of type of protection Ex-d
or to comply with the requirements of type of protection Ex-e
or to comply with the requirements of another type of protection
or not to comply with any type of protection.
In a third preferred embodiment of the invention, the plastic part and the stop are made of polybutylene terephtalate.
One advantage of the invention is that explosion protection between terminal compartment and electronics compartment is achieved in a simple manner, namely, on the one hand, by suitably dimensioning the longitudinal slot in the internal wall and, on the other hand, by combining the baseboard, the associated lead arrangement, and the plastic part into a prefabricated bushing assembly. During the manufacture of the apparatus, this unit only needs to be inserted into the longitudinal slot.
The invention and further advantages will become more apparent by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the various figures.